Ammunition-holding beverage insulator

ABSTRACT

A device for securely wrapping around a beverage container for the purpose of insulating and carrying it, the beverage insulating device for also securely carrying firearms ammunition cartridges.

This non-provisional application claims the benefit of provisionalapplication No. 61/690,015 filed Jun. 8, 2012.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A variety of insulating devices for reducing heat transfer to/frombeverage containers have been developed in the prior art. These beverageinsulating devices, or “koozies,” slow the rate at which the temperatureof a cold or hot beverage will rise or lower toward the ambient airtemperature, and they may also have the effect of making beveragesvisually distinguishable from each other—something that may beespecially useful in an office refrigerator environment in whichmultiple people may store otherwise identical beverage cans andcontainers, for example.

Koozies have either an openable or permanently closed structure thatfriction fits around the circumference of a beverage container. Theyalso are either bottomless or have bottom surface. Typically, openablestructure koozies are formed by a strip or panel of insulating materialthat has cooperative fastening means disposed near opposing ends of thepanel. In other words, the male portion of a snap button may be mountednear one end and the female portion near the other end, or the hookportion of a VELCRO system may be disposed near one end and the loopportion near the other, or a zipper assembly disposed at both ends. Inany case, these kinds of fasteners enable a bottomless, openablestructure koozie to be unraveled into a panel for easier, more thoroughcleaning of its interior surface. On the downside, however, manyopenable structure koozies employ button snaps, zippers or narrow strips(in the circumferential direction) of hook and loop material that permitlittle or no deviation in the circumferential size of the koozie when itis fastened close. This lack of expandability can render a koozie usablewith only the standard sized container for which it was designed. Forexample, it may be useful for insulating a standard-sized, aluminumbeverage can, but not able to fit around a larger-diametered plasticsports bottle. Closed structure koozies tend to have similarexpandability limitation issues. That is especially true in the case ofthose having bottom surfaces.

In addition to presenting limitations relative to their ability toconform to a range beverage container sizes, the present inventor hasrecognized that conventional koozies tend to be more functionallylimited than may be desirable. More specifically, prior art koozies tendto serve only two purposes: (1) insulating the beverage container thanthey are place around (for the purpose of protecting a consumer's handfrom the container's coldness and/or keeping the beverage cold (or warm)for as long as possible); and (2) making, through their outer decorationand overall construction, beverage containers more easily identifiable.However, it is appreciated by the present inventor that a koozie canadditionally function as a device for retaining and carrying objects inaddition and entirely unrelated to a beverage container.

Accordingly, the present inventor recognize an outstanding need toprovide a beverage insulator that not only provides the traditionalinsulating and identifying functions, but that is adaptable to host awide range of beverage container sizes, while identical ease and comfortof carrying. Furthermore, he also recognizes a concomitant need toprovide such an insulator which doubles as a device for securelycarrying some amount of firearms ammunition cartridges specifically—anda wide range of cartridge sizes at that. The present inventionsubstantially fulfills these needs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to devices for thermally insulatingbeverage containers, and it is specifically directed to such a devicethat also is useful for securely carrying ammunition cartridges alongits outer perimeter.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a carrying case fora beverage container.

It is another object of the invention to provide a carrying case for abeverage container that insulates the container from heat loss andprotects a user's hands from the container chill or heat.

It is another object of the invention to provide a beverage insulatorthat holds ammunition cartridges of a variety of lengths andcircumferences.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a beverage insulator according tothe present invention, the insulator shown in a closed configuration andretaining both a beverage can within its sleeve and a plurality ofshotgun shells within its loop pockets;

FIG. 2 is a top perspective view of the said insulator, shown in an openconfiguration;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of said insulator, shown in an openconfiguration;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the outer surface of the sleeve; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the inner surface of the sleeve.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

This disclosure, as defined by the claims that follow, relates to adevice for snugly wrapping around a cylindrical beverage container forsimultaneous purposes of preserving the temperature of the containedbeverage, enabling comfortable handling of an extremely hot or coldcontainer and securely carrying multiple firearm cartridges. As used inthis disclosure, “firearm cartridges” refers to virtually any cartridgecontaining a bullet, shot or other projectile that is fired by ahandgun, rifle or shotgun. Also, although the present device is adaptedto fit around beverage containers of a variety of shapes, dimensions andmaterials, the term “can” may be used, generically, to refer to all suchcontainers.

The primary components of the present ammunition-holding beverageinsulator 1 are an insulation sleeve 10, a series of loop pockets 24,and a carrying handle 30. The sleeve 10 can be alternated between afully open position, as depicted in FIGS. 4 and 5, and a closedcylindrical configuration shown in FIGS. 1-3. The sleeve 10 isfabricated by any of a host of deformable materials that exhibit lowthermal conduction and can serve to thermally insulate a beverage can50. For example, it may be constructed of neoprene, foam material,polyester, vinyl or a combination thereof.

As can be most clearly seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, the sleeve 10 is actuallya laterally elongate article of insulating material that has cooperativefastening means 16, 18 near both of its lateral ends. In the preferredembodiment depicted in the drawings, hook and loop fasteners 16, 18 areemployed. A laterally wide strip of hook material 16 is attached to sideof the sleeve 10 that constitutes its inner face 12 when in closedcylinder form, and a correspondingly wide strip of loop material 18 isattached to its outer face 14. So, when the sleeve 10 is wrapped arounda can 50, the “hook end” should overlap the “loop end,” to the extentnecessary to create a snug fit prevents the can 50 from slidingvertically against the sleeve 10, and the hook and loop strips 16, 18are pressed into engagement to secure the enclosure. Nevertheless, snapbuttons and zippers can alternatively be used to allow the sleeve 10 toattach to be closed.

Disposed along the outer surface 14 of the sleeve 10 are a series offabric loop pockets 24. In the preferred embodiment, these loop pockets24 are formed by virtue of a single elastic material strip 20 beingdiscontinuously attached to the sleeve surface 14 along laterally spacedvertical seams 28. The spacing of these seams forms side-by-sidecylindrical, bottomless loops that are sized to snugly hold small gaugecylindrical cartridges 40. To better ensure that the cartridges 40 don'tfall through the loops 24, they should be placed so that the flange 46which typically resides along the rim of a shotgun shell cover 44 orbullet casing will abut and be retained by the upper rim 26 of thepocket loop 24. Nevertheless, because the pocket material is elastic,they expand to also retain larger diameter cartridges 40. Moreover, inone embodiment of the present insulator 1, pocket loops 24 havedifferent sizes intended to house different sized cartridges 40. Also,the loops 24 do not have to be formed from a single material strip 20.

Finally, to facilitate more carrying ease, a fabric handle 30 isattached to the sleeve by virtue of ends end portions being sewn to thesleeve's inner surface 12.

It is understood that substitutions and equivalents for and combinationsof various elements set forth above may be obvious to those skilled inthe art and may not represent a departure from the spirit of theinvention. Therefore, the full scope and definition of the presentinvention is to be set forth by the claims that follow.

What is claimed is:
 1. An ammunition-holding beverage insulatorcomprising: an insulating sleeve for wrapping around a cylindricalbeverage can, wherein the sleeve has an inner surface that faces the canand an opposing outer surface; a carrying handle; and a plurality ofloop pockets disposed along the sleeve outer surface, the loop pocketsfor retaining ammunition cartridges.
 2. The beverage insulator of claim1, wherein said loop pockets are generally cylindrical enclosures havingopen tops and bottoms, wherein their respective top rims retain theflange that resides along the rim of an ammunition cartridge.
 3. Thebeverage insulator of claim 1, wherein said insulating sleeve isfabricated from insulating material.
 4. The beverage insulator of claim3, wherein said insulating sleeve material is selected from thefollowing group: neoprene, foam, vinyl and polyester.
 5. The beverageinsulator of claim 1, wherein said insulating sleeve is a panel havingmeans for fastening the panel to itself in order to form a cylindricalenclosure.
 6. The beverage insulator of claim 5, wherein said fasteningmeans comprises at least one of the following: (a) hook and loopmaterial; (b) a snap button(s); and (c) a zipper.
 7. The beverageinsulator of claim 2, wherein said ammunition cartridge is a shotgunshell.
 8. An ammunition-holding beverage insulator comprising: aninsulating sleeve for wrapping around a beverage can, wherein the sleeveis a laterally elongate panel having an inner surface that faces the canand an opposing outer surface, wherein means for fastening the panel toitself so as to substantially form a cylinder are disposed near bothlateral ends, and wherein this fastening means enables the sleevecylinder to be circumferentially adjustable to retain beverage canshaving a range of diameters; a carrying handle; a strip for retainingammunition cartridges along the sleeve outer surface, wherein the stripis discontinuously attached to the sleeve so as to form multiple looppockets within each of which an ammunition cartridge can be retained. 9.The beverage insulator of claim 8, wherein said loop pockets aregenerally cylindrical enclosures having open tops and bottoms, whereintheir respective top rims retain the flange that resides along the rimof an ammunition cartridge.
 10. The beverage insulator of claim 8,wherein said retaining strip is fabricated of elastic material, wherebysaid loop pockets are circumferentially elastically expandable.
 11. Thebeverage insulator of claim 8, wherein said insulating sleeve isfabricated from insulating material.
 12. The beverage insulator of claim11, wherein said insulating sleeve material is selected from thefollowing group: neoprene, foam, vinyl and polyester.
 13. The beverageinsulator of claim 8, wherein said fastening means comprises laterallyelongate strips of hook and loop material, wherein the lateral lengthsof such strips enables circumferential adjustment of said sleevecylinder.
 14. The beverage insulator of claim 9, wherein said ammunitioncartridge is a shotgun shell.
 15. An ammunition-holding beverageinsulator comprising: an insulating sleeve for wrapping around abeverage can, wherein the sleeve is a laterally elongate panel having aninner surface that faces the can and an opposing outer surface, whereinmeans for fastening the panel to itself so as to substantially form acylinder are disposed near both lateral ends, and wherein this fasteningmeans enables the sleeve cylinder to be circumferentially adjustable toretain beverage cans having a range of diameters; a carrying handle; andloop pockets disposed along the sleeve outer surface, the loop pocketsfor retaining ammunition cartridges, wherein at least two of the looppockets are diametrically sized to retain different sized suchcartridges.
 16. The beverage insulator of claim 15, wherein said looppockets are substantially cylindrical enclosures having open tops andbottoms, wherein their respective top rims retain the flange thatresides along the rim of an ammunition cartridge.
 17. The beverageinsulator of claim 15, wherein said insulating sleeve is fabricated frominsulating material.
 18. The beverage insulator of claim 17, whereinsaid insulating sleeve material is selected from the following group:neoprene, foam, vinyl and polyester.
 19. The beverage insulator of claim15, wherein said fastening means comprises hook and loop material. 20.The beverage insulator of claim 16, wherein said ammunition cartridge isa shotgun shell.